NOVEMBER 11 THROUGH 22
WEEKEND
OF NOVEMBER 20-22, 2020
Weekend
Read: Hollow Resistance. Obama, Trump and the Politics of Appeasement - by Paul
Street. ... radical historian Paul Street recounts the Democrats’ culpability
in the rise of Trump and explains how his neofascist horrors took root during
the Obama years, and will live on even if Joe Biden is victorious in November.
CounterPunch
Calls
Mount for Lindsey Graham to Resign Over Alleged Interference in GA Recount. TruthOut
The American government’s campaign to criminalize BLM. ... In the wake of
the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black people at the hands
of police, activists around the country have mobilized in record numbers. Rather
than address the systemic injustices these activists are highlighting, law enforcement
and lawmakers have found new ways to criminalize their actions. TRN
Orwellian:
Ardent Covidiots Vow NOBODY WILL TAKE ARE FREEDOM AWAY. ... The
U.S. map is now blazingly, dizzyingly red: 11.6 million COVID cases, over
250,000 dead, with experts describing "aggressive, unrelenting, expanding
broad community spread" and an expected "deterioration" that could
see deaths nearly double this winter to about 440,000... CommonDreams
Why
Red States Want to Seize Control of the Endangered Species Act. CounterPunch
Dear
Joe Biden: are you kidding me? .... The president-elect has tapped a former DuPont
consultant to join his Environmental Protection Agency transition board. Guardian
Joe
Biden Should Take a Hard Look at What Obama Did in 2009 -- And Do Exactly the
Opposite. .. The incoming Biden administration risks repeating the catastrophic
policy failures of the past decade. Deficit cutting won’t help ordinary Americans
struggling amid the crisis -- but direct relief and increased federal spending
will. Jacobin
'Dire
outlook': scientists say Florida reefs have lost nearly 98% of coral. ... While
overall US coral reefs are in fair condition, along the coast of Florida as little
as 2% of original coral cover remains. Guardian
Campus
Reform Group Is Funneling Koch Money To Groom Right-Wing Reporters. ... Student
supported by Campus Reform are often fast-tracked to jobs with conservative lawmakers,
think tanks or media outlets. Sludge
Anti-Abortion protesters get special treatment from the police. ... Minneapolis,
Louisville, Kenosha, Portland -- these cities, among others, have all seen police
respond with violence to protests for racial justice this year. However, anti-abortion
protesters almost never elicit a police response, even with their long history
of violence at clinics. TRN
Tyson
Foods Accused Of Betting Money On How Many Workers Would Contract COVID-19
The
lawsuit is tied to an Iowa pork plant where more than 1,000 workers became sick
and at least five died of the virus after being forced to report for work. HuffPost
Trump
Is Escalating the Potential for US-Iran Conflict Before He Leaves Office. TruthOut
Why
Biden Will Keep the U.S.-Imposed Cold War Rolling. CounterPunch
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NOVEMBER
19, 2020
New
Mexico’s oil fields have a sinkhole problem. ... The hunt for industrial
brine has opened massive and unexpected sinkholes, which is taking delicate work,
and more than $54 million, to fill. HCN
There’s
One Issue Joe Biden Has Refused to Follow the Science On. ... The president-elect
says he'll to listen to scientists when it comes to the pandemic—unlike Donald
Trump—but he hasn't done so when it comes to the most pressing crisis of
our time. ScheerPost
The
Last Thing the Economy Needs Is Joe Biden’s Austerity. ... Joe Biden represents
something now rare in American politics: he's a dyed-in-the-wool true believer
in austerity and deficit reduction. To climb out of our current economic hole,
we'll need massive public investment and income support — but if current
patterns hold, Biden will opt for austerity and half-measures instead.Jacobin
Trump
Administration Finalizing Last-Minute Safety Net Cuts. ... Several changes to
food and disability benefits are included among the dozens of regulations lined
up. HuffPost
Will
Biden Dismantle Trump’s Immigration Police State? As Biden confronts Trump’s
immigration legacy, the long shadow of the Obama era creeps in. Intercept
How
Livestock Impacts Ecosystems. CounterPunch
The
New Elite: Dark Nights Rising. ... America's new self-replicating economic elite
is conditioned from childhood to accept heirarchy, domination and authority. ScheerPost
DHS
Plans to Start Collecting Eye Scans and DNA — With the Help of Defense Contractors.
... As the agency plans to collect more biometrics, including from U.S. citizens,
Northrop Grumman is helping build the infrastructure. Intercept
Biden
and the CIA. CounterPunch
'Hopefully
Amy Coney Barrett Will Come Through': Trump Legal Adviser Admits Campaign Is Pining
for Supreme Court Rescue. ... "The GOP is telling the nation, on cable television,
that it installed its 6-3 Supreme Court majority in order to steal elections.
Believe them." CommonDreams
Whatever
Happened to Left Solidarity? CounterPunch
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NOVEMBER
18, 2020
Trump
Administration Rushes to Auction Off Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling
Rights Before Biden Inauguration. ... The pristine reserve is home to the Gwich'in
people, who call it "Iizhik Gwats'an Gwandaii Goodlit," or, "the
sacred place where life begins." CommonDreams
The
Three Greatest Dangers of Biden/Harris: Militarism, Corporatism and Censorship,
All Fueled by Indifference. Greenwald
Drawing
All the Wrong Lessons From Media’s Election 2020 Failures. FAIR
How
Trump Sold Failure to 70 Million People. ... The president convinced many voters
that his response to the pandemic was not a disaster. The psychology of medical
fraud is simple, timeless, and tragic. The
Atlantic
“Campus
Reform” Is Funneling Koch Money to Groom Right-Wing “Journalists”.
TruthOut
Democrats
Can’t Blame the Left for Their Lackluster Election Results. ... The Democratic
leadership went into this election with a strategy: stick to the center, avoid
the Left, and promise bipartisanship. When the results proved disastrous, guess
who they decided to blame: the Left. Jacobin
Biden’s
Victory: a Eunuch Presidency Beckons. CounterPunch
"That's
His Priority as the Pandemic Rages On": Ire as McConnell Moves to Further
Pack Courts With Trump's Judicial Appointees. CommonDreams
Escalating
the Demographic War: The Strategic Goal of Israeli Racism in Palestine. CounerPunch
Making
Space for Palestine. ... Palestinians aren’t just kept in misery and degradation
by the Israeli occupation — they’re also silenced, at home and abroad.
Palestinian activists and their supporters are trying to change that. Jacobin
Infographic:
A patchwork of lands fragments wildlife migration. ... New legislation helps connect
private and public parcels for wildlife flow. HCN
Celebrate
Today, Fight Tomorrow. ... It appears Joe Biden will defeat Donald Trump, which
is a very good thing. Now, get ready to fight — because oligarchs will concede
nothing in their class war. Jacobin
(11/6/20)
"They
Had One Job and They Blew It': Progressives Fire Back as Centrist Democrats in
House Blame Left for Election Failures. CommonDreams
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NOVEMBER
17, 2020
Why
Matthew Yglesias Left Vox. ... He is the latest high-profile writer to abandon
traditional media. The
Atlantic
Biden’s
transition team is filled with war profiteers, Beltway chickenhawks and corporate
consultants. ... A glance at the Biden-Harris agency review teams should provide
a rude awakening to anyone who believed a Biden administration could be “pushed
to the left”. Gray
Zone
In
the Mercenaries’ Own Words: Documents Detail TigerSwan Infiltration of Standing
Rock
North Dakota’s private security regulator said a trove of company
documents showed TigerSwan’s denials were “willfully false and misleading.”
Intercept
The
Extreme Center Is Waging War on the Left. ... In both Britain and the United States,
a resurgent political center has declared war on the Left. But establishment politics
and pro-corporate measures will only deepen the present crisis. Jacobin
Chris
Hedges talks to the Rev Mel White about the Christian Right, "a homegrown
fascist movement," which has been organizing to take political power for
decades, and during the Trump administration seized senior positions. YouTube
Chris
Hedges on the task ahead: Will Biden surrender to plutocrats and paralysis? ...
Pulitzer-winning author: Biden and the Democrats will "just dig themselves
deeper," fueling a fascist comeback Salon
When
Centrists Lose, Corporate Media Love to Blame the Left. ... Mass media lost no
time in helping the right wing of the Democratic Party blame its left wing for
poor election results. ScheerPost
Farcical
Coverage of Julian Assange’s Farcical Hearing. ... US corporate media have
buried coverage of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition hearing
in the UK, despite its being the media “Trial of the Century” FAIR
Related: Assange Extradition And The War On Journalism. Popular
Resistance
Now
We Have to Fight Trump’s Tin-Pot Coup -- and Biden’s Worst Instincts.
... Republicans keep finding new ways to tell us that they don’t believe
in democracy, and we should believe them. Intercept
Alito
Attacks Marriage Equality, COVID Orders, and Reproductive Rights in Speech....
he justice’s words, delivered virtually as a keynote speech to the right-wing
Federalist Society, made suspect warnings over encroachments on individual liberty
in the United States. TruthOut
'Sleeping
giant' Arctic methane deposits starting to release, scientists find. ... Exclusive:
expedition discovers new source of greenhouse gas off East Siberian coast has
been triggered. Guardian
Factory
Farms Are Poisoning Rural Communities. Will Biden Take on This Crisis? ... Public
health researchers say Biden must take action to protect the rural communities
overrun by factory farms. TruthOut
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NOVEMBER
16, 2020
Republicans
aren't conceding – and Democrats are bringing a knife to a gun fight. ...
The Republicans’ bid to overturn the election is a full-scale emergency --
and yet the Democratic strategy seems to be to pretend it isn’t happening.
Guardian
Chris
Hedges on the task ahead: Will Biden surrender to plutocrats and paralysis? ...
Pulitzer-winning author: Biden and the Democrats will "just dig themselves
deeper," fueling a fascist comeback. Salon
Dennis
Kucinich on the Real Reason the Blue Wave Never Materialized. ScheerPost
If
Joe Biden Fails Then His Successor will be a Christian Fascist Who is Much More
Dangerous Than Donald Trump. The
Truth Report
F*#k
the Trumpenleft and Obama Too. ... people on “the left” so sickened
by the fake-progressive COP Dems as to become de facto supporters and in some
cases even open backers of Obama’s fascistic and malignant-narcissist successor
Donald J. Trump, “the most dangerous criminal in human history.”. CounterPunch
Firing
a "Vindictive, Illegal Parting Shot," Trump's Interior Proposes Sabotage
of Conservation Program. ... "The administration's proposal is unneeded,
unwanted, and unacceptable." CommonDreams
Trump
Destroyed Any Hope of Israeli-Palestinian Peace -- and Biden Can’t Rebuild
It. ... U.S. foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unlikely to
ever be the same. What comes next is an open question. Intercept
Trump
Ousted. The Spirit of Insurgent Democracy Is Rising. ... The 2020 election was
a contest between the centrist elements in the Democratic Party -- as embodied
by President-elect Joe Biden and his reputed neoliberal policies -- and the resurgent
fascist politics of an updated party of white supremacists and ultra-nationalists.
TruthOut
/Giroux
When
Centrists Lose, Corporate Media Blame the Left. ... Joe Biden hadn’t even
been declared the victor of the 2020 election before establishment Democrats,
in the face of poorer-than-expected results in House and Senate races, began pointing
fingers at the left -- with corporate media giving them a major assist. FAIR
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WEEKEND
OF NOVEMBER 13-15, 2020
WEEKEND
READ: America: The Farewell Tour - by Chris Hedges. ... an unsettling examination
of America in crisis is “an exceedingly…provocative book, certain to
arouse controversy, but offering a point of view that needs to be heard”
(Booklist), about how bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in a culture
of sadism and hate. Thrift
Books
Things
May Get Worse Before They Get Better in the U.S. ... Whites make up around over
65 percent of the electorate of the US. Surveys show that 57 percent of white
voters (56 percent women, 58 percent men) went for Trump, despite everything
CounterPunch
Biden
state media appointee advocated using propaganda against Americans and ‘rethinking’
First Amendment. GrayZone
On
Contact: Hedges and Street on the Strength of Right-Wing Populism. ... Despite
losing, Donald Trump has solidified support from an angry, disposed working class
that cuts across racial lines. ScheerPost
Don’t
Let Up: Fascism isn’t Dead Yet. CounterPunch
The US was lucky to get Trump – Biden may pave the way for a more
competent autocrat. ... Only if the president-elect is willing to fight big money
and redistribute wealth can he stop the rise of someone far worse than Trump.
Guardian
Escalating
the Demographic War: The Strategic Goal of Israeli Racism in Palestine. CounterPunch
Will
the Biden Team Be Warmongers or Peacemakers? ... Our current litany of problems
won’t be solved by the same people and mindsets that got us into these predicaments,
but it's unlikely Joe Biden sees that. ScheerPost
COVID
Needs Are Urgent, But Many Cities Are Prioritizing Police Funding Instead. TruthOut
Fur Trades and Pandemics: Coronavirus and Denmark’s Great Mink Massacre.
CounterPunch
Biden
and the Dems Should Have Buried Trumpism. But They Provided No Alternative. ...
In last week’s election, the Democrats performed terribly, despite running
during a period of unprecedented crisis against a uniquely unpopular president.
Donald Trump’s four years of demagoguery and corporate giveaways should have
been easy to run against -- but the Democratic Party is unwilling and unable to
pose an alternative. Jacobin
The
Blue Wave that Never Came. CounterPunch
“A
Tremendous Jump for Progressive Forces”: Puerto Rico Election Signals End
of Two-Party Dominance. DemocracyNow
The
Good, Bad, and Extremely Ugly of the 2020 Election. ... Looking beyond Joe Biden’s
unexpectedly modest victory, the 2020 election was a historic failure for the
Democratic Party. On the other hand, despite some painful hitches coming out of
this campaign season, the Left has reason to be hopeful. Jacobin
The
War Inside the War in Vietnam. CounterPunch
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NOVEMBER
12, 2020
TrumpTroop
Heres'
another TrumpTroop
Brace
yourselves. The next Donald Trump could be much worse. ... If Biden governs as
an establishment Democrat, it won’t be long before the US elects another,
far more effective Donald Trump. Guardian
Assange Legal Team Submits Closing Argument Against Extradition. ... In submission
to magistrates’ court in London, attorneys detail the “politically motivated”
case the Trump administration pursued against the WikiLeaks founder. Popular
Resistance
Maj.
Danny Sjursen and Oliver Stone Discuss ‘Patriotic Dissent’ (Video) ...
The author of "Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War"
spoke with filmmaker and author Oliver Stone at the 14th annual Heyday Harvest.
ScheerPost
Pentagon’s
Top Policy Official Resigns Day After Defense Secretary Fired. ... James Anderson,
acting undersecretary of defense for policy, submitted his resignation after reportedly
clashing with the White House. HuffPost
An
Omaha Stake in the Heart of Orange Satan? Early Reflections on the Election. CounterPunch
Killing
Fields: the Seamy Side of Idaho’s Wildlife Agency. CounterPunch
The
Leaders From My Afghan Tour Are on to Bigger, More Bankable Things. .... Unable
to stomach 24/7 coverage of an election that barely broached America’s longest-war,
I got to reminiscing about the colonels and generals from my 2011-12 Afghan adventure;
wondering--like Garth Brooks--"What they’re doing now?" ScheerPost
Leveraging
the Ruling Class’s Loss of Legitimacy. CounterPunch
Brazilian
Organized Crime Has a Close Friend in Jair Bolsonaro. ... Brazil is governed by
a president with well-documented links to Rio’s mafias. In order to understand
Jair Bolsonaro’s rise, it is key to understand the link between his brutal
law-and-order politics and the increasing stranglehold of organized crime over
Rio. Jacobin
On
Election Day, Follow the Money for Both Parties. ... In an oligarchic system,
there are few better predictors of how a president will govern than where they
got their money. Here’s who’s funded both the Biden and Trump campaigns.
Jacobin
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NOVEMBER
11, 2020
Trump’s
Cult of Personality Will be Badly Damaged by Defeat, But His Toxic Politics Marches
On. CounterPunch/Cockburn
Why
Trump won't concede. Popular
Info.
'Astounding
and Tyrannical': Mike Pompeo Denounced for Vowing Smooth Transition... for Trump's
Second Term. ... "This is a war against America's democracy and against 75
million American voters."
CommonDreams
From
Police Violence at Home to Killing Civilians in Unending Wars Abroad, US Faces
Human Rights Reckoning at UN. ... An ACLU leader urged the incoming administration
to "take bold actions on day one to reverse President Trump's harmful policies."
CommonDreams
99%
of Green New Deal Co-Sponsors Won Their Races This Cycle: Analysis. ... "Saying
progressive policies held Democrats back from expanding their House majority/taking
the Senate just doesn't hold water with data available so far." CommonDreams
We
were told Joe Biden was the 'safe choice'. But it was risky to offer so little.
... A great many people did not vote for Joe Biden, they voted against Trump.
We have to recognise how narrow this win was. Guardian/Klein
Progressives
Had Some Success In 2020, But They’re Getting Blamed For House Losses. Democrats
will still control the House, but moderates are putting their progressive colleagues
in the hot seat after a handful of centrists lost their races. HuffPost
Progressives Made Trump’s Defeat Possible. Now It’s Time to
Challenge Biden and Other Corporate Democrats. CounterPunch
Facebook
And Steve Bannon Hacked The Media. And They Won’t Stop. ... Unless we build
something better. Mother
Jones
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